Dinky Toys was a brand of die-cast zamak zinc alloy scale model vehicles, traffic lights, and road signs produced by British toy company Meccano Ltd. They were made in England from 1934 to 1979, at a factory in Binns Road in Liverpool.
Toy vehicles commercialised under the "Dinky" name include cars, trucks, aircraft, military vehicles, and ships.
Pre-war history
Frank Hornby established Meccano Ltd. in 1908 to make metal construction sets. The company later moved into model railways, with its O gauge clockwork trains appearing in 1920.
In the early 1930s, Meccano made many types of tinplate and other metal cars, such as its Morgan and BSA three-wheelers, mostly in kit form. In 1933, Meccano Ltd issued a series of railway and trackside accessories to complement its O gauge (1/45) Hornby Trains model railway sets. The accessories were first called "Hornby Modelled Miniatures", but in April 1934 issue of Meccano Magazine, they were given the name "Meccano Dinky Toys" for the first time. In August 1935, the name Meccano was dropped and the marque became DINKY TOYS, which lasted until 1971. By December 1934, the Dinky name was also used for the "Dinky Builder" sets, which were coloured flat metal pieces that could be hinged together to make buildings and vehicles.
There are some stories about the origin of the "Dinky" name. One story says it derived from a nickname that a friend gave to Frank Hornby's daughter. Another story is that when one of Hornby's daughters-in-law first saw the models, she called them "dinky", a Scottish word meaning "neat" or "fine".
The legacy of vehicles
In the mid-1930s, six vehicles were released (designated 22a to f), including a sports car, a sports coupe, a truck, a delivery van, a farm tractor, and a tank, all cast in lead. Soon after, the first Dinky model car, a sports car based on the MG Magic Midget, was made available individually, numbered 23. At that time, a series 24 (a-h) was introduced, which included a generic ambulance (made until the late 1940s), a grand sports open four-seater, a grand sports two-seater, a coupé and a limousine. The 24 series was also made in France.
Some smaller vehicles were produced alongside model track workers, passengers, station staff and other O scale trackside accessories. All of the early cars were inaccurate representations and had die-cast metal bodies and chassis, and wheels with rubber tyres. By August 1935, there were around 200 different products in the Dinky Toys range which included die-cast ships, aeroplanes and small trains. Dinky Toys model cars were available individually in trade packs of six cars per pack. Most models were not made available in individual boxes until 1952.
The number of commercial vehicles expanded with the addition of Series 28, which included many delivery vans. In 1935, a new series 30 was introduced which, for the first time, featured accurate likenesses of specific vehicles. They included a generic ambulance, a Daimler saloon, a Vauxhall saloon, a Chrysler Airflow saloon, and a Rolls-Royce saloon. Smaller Matchbox-sized Austin 7 saloons and tourers were also made. At about the same time, several models were also made and marketed in France. Liveries of well-known companies began to decorate the commercial vehicles.
Series 30 included: 30a Chrysler Airflow Saloon (originally no. 32) 30b Rolls-Royce 30c Daimler 30d Vauxhall 30e Breakdown car 30f Ambulance
In 1938, a new Series 36 was introduced. Most of those models were also made after World War II, up to 1948. Production was halted during the war so that the Binns Road factory in Liverpool could produce many items for the war effort. Meanwhile, models in series 36 included a Rover Saloon, a Bentley 2 seat sports coupé, an Armstrong-Siddeley limousine, a British Salmson 4 seater convertible, a British Salmson 2 seat convertible, and a Humber Vogue coupé. Chassis were cast with open holes, saving expense and metal. Provision was made on some models for the attachment of metal drivers, but not many appeared before the war, making them more valuable.
Dinky had acute problems on early models with zinc pest, also known, incorrectly, as metal fatigue, caused by impure alloys which caused corrosion between molecules, resulting in cracking of the metal, which would crumble prematurely. That was much more common in the years 1938–1941, and is the main reason why it is rare to find surviving toys in good condition from that period. Some early castings have survived in numbers, while others are rare without some form of damage – such as the 28/2 Series vans.
Military
Between 1937 and 1939, a number of military vehicles were introduced, numbered from 151 to 162. They were painted army green, and consisted of a medium and a light tank, an Austin 7 military car, a six-wheeled truck, a reconnaissance car, a searchlight lorry, an anti aircraft gun, a Vickers Light Dragon artillery tractor with a limber and 18-pounder gun. There were also several detailed trailers, including an ammunition trailer, a cooker trailer, and a water tank trailer. The military toys were produced until 1941, though a few select models – the (161b) anti-aircraft gun, the (151a) medium tank, and some of the trailers – were also made again from 1946 to 1955.
Pre-war models were fitted with thin diameter 1.626 mm. (0.064 in.) axles, whereas the post-war axles were 2.032 mm. (0.08 in.). The pre-war hubs were smooth, but after the war there was a raised part in the centre of the hub. Tracks on the tanks and the (162a) Light Dragon artillery tractor were made with a wire-link sprocket chain wrapped around the hubs. That gave a mechanical, although not very realistic, appearance to the tracks. The side panels of the anti-aircraft folded and, not only did the gun swivel 360 degrees² but it could be moved from level to about a 50-degree angle upward. The searchlight was also adjustable in horizontal and vertical directions.
Military models were made until the end of production in the late 1970s. A wide variety of military vehicles were produced, such as the jeep-like Austin Champ, which included a driver and passengers.
Aircraft and ships Aircraft In the early days of the Dinky Toys range, aeroplanes and ships formed a considerable part of the output of the Binns Road factory, along with models of cars, vans and trucks. Both civilian and military aircraft were subjects for the Dinky Toys modellers, and the model of the Spitfire was sold in a special presentation box between 1939 and 1941, as part of The Spitfire Fund, to raise money for the supply of a real Spitfire to the Royal Air Force. Some models were clearly identified, whereas others re-issued in 1945 had generic names such as Heavy Bomber (66a) and Two Seater Fighter (66c). The reason for that is not clear, but it may have been that they were not true representations of particular aircraft types. However, there were rumours that some models of aircraft and ships were disguised so that enemy agents would not be able to recognise allied aircraft and shipping from the Dinky Toys models. That was of particular importance in the production of French Dinky models, due to the political friction in Europe before the war and the fact that France was occupied by the Axis forces during hostilities. Those theories do not seem to be valid, because the models with generic names were issued in 1945, after hostilities had ceased.
Production of model aircraft resumed after the war with a mixture re-issues of pre-war models, along with models of new civilian airliners and recently introduced jet-powered aircraft. Production of Dinky planes tailed off in 1968, but was resurgent in 1971 with a range of World War II types complete with battery-powered propellers, as well as modern jet fighters, and even a Sea King helicopter. Those large-scale planes had been developed by Airfix but were made by Meccano Ltd., which had recently been bought by Airfix.
The range included:
60a Imperial Airways Liner (Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta) (1934) 62a Supermarine Spitfire (1939) 60c Percival Gull (1934) 60d Sikorsky S58 Helicopter 60f Cierva C.30A autogiro 60g de Havilland Comet 60h Short "Singapore III" flying boat 60r Short S 23 Empire flying boat 60s Fairey "Battle" bomber (1940–41) 60w Clipper III Flying Boat 62g Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (1939) 62k The King's Aeroplane 62m Airspeed Envoy 62p Armstrong Whitworth Ensign 62s Hawker Hurricane (1940) 62w Imperial Airways Liner Frobisher Class 63 Mayo Composite aircraft 63b Mercury Sea Plane 64a Amiot 370 (1939) 64b Bloch 200 (1939) 67a Junkers Ju 89 (1941) 70a Avro York (1946) 70c Vickers Viking (1954) 70d Twin Engine Fighter 70e Gloster Meteor (1946) 70f Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star (1947) 701 Short Shetland Flying Boat 702 De Havilland Comet BOAC (1954) 703 Handley Page Herald (1955) 704 Avro York Airliner (1954) – re-issued from 70a 705 Vickers Viking – re-issued from 70c 706 Vickers Viscount Airliner (1956) 707 Avro Vulcan – renumbered as 749 before release 708 Vickers Viscount Airliner (BEA) (1957) 710 Beechcraft Bonanza S35 712 US Army T-42A – retracting undercarriage 715 Beechcraft Baron – retracting undercarriage 716 Westland Sikorsky S51 Helicopter 717 Boeing 737 in Lufthansa Livery 731 Twin Engine Fighter – re-issue of 70d 730 Hawker Tempest II Fighter 732 Gloster Meteor (1946) – re-issue of 70e 732 Bell Police Helicopter – same issue number as above (Meteor) – 1974 release 733 Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star – re-issue of 70f 734 Supermarine Swift (1955) 735 Gloster Javelin (1956) 736 Hawker Hunter (1955) 737 P.1B Lightning Fighter (1959) 738 de Havilland Sea Vixen (1960) 715 Bristol 173 Helicopter 718 Hawker Hurricane Mk IIe (1972) 719 Supermarine Spitfire Mk II (1969) – motorised propeller 721 Junkers Ju 87 'Stuka' (1969) 722 Hawker Siddeley Harrier (1970) – retracting undercarriage 723 Hawker Siddeley H.S.125 Executive Jet – retracting undercarriage 724 Sea King Helicopter and Apollo Spacecraft Capsule (1971) – motorised main rotor. 726 Messerschmitt Bf 109E (1972) – motorised propeller 730 US Navy McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom (1972) 731 SEPECAT Jaguar (1973) – retracting undercarriage 749 Avro Vulcan (1955) – boxes marked "992" – "Supertoys" range 997 SE 210 Caravelle Airliner (1962) made alternatively in France and in England – "Super toys" range 998 Bristol Britannia Airliner (1959) 999 Comet Airliner (1956) – re-issue of 702
Although the production of aircraft models continued after the war, the heyday of Dinky ships was between 1934 and 1939. The models, which were 1/1200 to 1/1985 scale, were cast from the same unstable alloy that was used across the entire pre-war Dinky range and have therefore suffered from the metal decay that makes survivors all the more rare. Small metal rollers were also included in the design and concealed in the underside of the hull so that the models could be moved smoothly across surfaces. Mirroring the aircraft range, both civilian and military ships were issued, and again, some were disguised.
Ships The liner France was the only Dinky Toys ship produced in France after the war. It was made partly of zamac and partly of plastic, at the scale of 1/1200. It was not until 1976 that five further models were added to the long line of maritime releases from Dinky Toys. Those were in the larger scale of 1/180 – 1/200.
Models in the pre-war range include:
50a 50b Battle ship Nelson class 50c Cruiser Effingham 50d HMS York 50e HMS Delhi 50f Destroyer Brook class 50g K class submarine 50h Destroyer Amazon class 50k X class submarine 51b Norddeutscher Lloyd Europa 51c Italia Line Rex 51d CPR Empress of Britain 51e P & O Strathaird 51f Furness Queen of Bermuda 51g Cunard White Star Britannic 52a Cunard/White Star Queen Mary 52c Paquebot La Normandie made in France 52c Battleship Dunkerque made in France
Post-war history